


send me on my way

by illicitaffair



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Found Family, Gen, also i got the sense that carrie was really lonely so this is my attempt, carrie can see ghosts, carrie-centric, i am the no 1 carrie warrior i will defend her till the day i die, none of the relationship tags are romantic btw, there's not really any point to this i just had feelings, to give her some real friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26543989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/illicitaffair/pseuds/illicitaffair
Summary: So, here’s the thing: Carrie can see ghosts.Not the kind from horror movies, or even the kind from cartoons. They’re lost souls, essentially. Sent back to earth to complete their unfinished business, or sometimes just to spend time with their loved ones before making their way to heaven - or hell.alternatively; carrie begins to sort out her priorities and fix her mistakes with the help of three chaotic and slightly idiotic ghosts from the nineties.
Relationships: Carrie Wilson & Alex (Julie and the Phantoms), Carrie Wilson & Julie Molina, Carrie Wilson & Luke Patterson
Comments: 16
Kudos: 261





	send me on my way

**Author's Note:**

> this show stole my heart! i'm currently bursting with creativity for this show so if you have any prompts don't hesitate to send them through. 
> 
> title from send me on my way by rusted root.  
> unedited, there will be mistakes!
> 
> please leave a comment if you enjoyed, i'd love to know what you think!

“Your music actually isn’t that bad Candy,” Luke says idly as he fiddles with her stereo system.

Carrie stops dancing and turns towards him, eyeing the stereo warily. “My name is  _ Carrie, _ which you already  _ know _ . What are you doing here, anyway?”

He shrugs. “Julie was busy. Girls day with her aunt.”

“Didn’t want to tag along?”

“Nah, she scares me.” 

Carrie suppresses a laugh. “You’re a ghost and yet Victoria Molina scares you? Not very rock and roll of you.” 

“Hey, I’m willing to admit my weaknesses.” 

The latest  _ Dirty Candy  _ song is still playing so Carrie walks forward and presses pause on the stereo, glaring at Luke. 

“I’m trying to rehearse,” she says, placing a hand on her hip. “We’re performing at an open mike night next week and I need to perfect the choreography.” Luke raises an eyebrow and opens his mouth to speak but Carrie beats him to it. “There’s going to be loads of management execs there, and I  _ can’t  _ let Julie steal my chance again.” 

Luke smirks. “You want to know why you haven’t gotten a contract yet, Carrie?”

“What, like you have so much expertise in making it big?” she scoffs.

He winces but continues nonetheless. “It’s because you don’t care about your music.”

“I care!” 

“You care about winning,” Luke replies. “But your music doesn’t come from the heart. You put on a good show, and your songs are hella tight. But you don’t have  _ fun  _ onstage. People can see that.” 

He’s right and Carrie knows it, but instead of telling him so she glares. “Get  _ out _ . I mean it, Luke. I’m busy.” 

“Your wish is my command,” Luke says, saluting her before he poofs out of her room.

_ Good riddance. _

* * *

So, here’s the thing: Carrie can see ghosts. 

Not the kind from horror movies, or even the kind from cartoons. They’re lost souls, essentially. Sent back to earth to complete their unfinished business, or sometimes just to spend time with their loved ones before making their way to heaven - or hell. 

Carrie’s not sure exactly  _ how  _ she can see the dead, but it happened, so now she has to spend her days helping ghosts cross over to the other side, while managing her music program, keeping up her social life  _ and  _ trying to make it big on the LA music scene. 

(Yeah, Carrie’s totally happy about this seeing ghosts deal. No complaints here  _ at all _ .)

She realises what’s up with Julie’s ‘Phantoms’ the second they poof onto the gym's stage at the spirit rally. 

Holograms? Please. 

They’re ghosts. Cute ones, but still ghosts nonetheless. Carrie doesn’t know how Julie met them, or how she can even  _ see  _ them, but honestly? She doesn’t really care. 

Carrie is more than happy to let Julie take the reins on this one. Dealing with the supernatural is  _ really  _ starting to cramp her style. 

* * *

Alex is the first one that she meets. 

He follows her to a  _ Dirty Candy  _ rehearsal and Carrie pretends not to notice. She’s running late, Nick and her had gotten into a massive fight earlier and to top it all off, her left AirPod is missing. 

So, yeah, dealing with Julie’s ghost is  _ so not  _ on her list of priorities for today. 

Except he doesn’t freaking leave. He stays the whole rehearsal, learning their choreography and the songs. By the end of the hour he has the moves for their newest song down pat.

Carrie can’t help it, she’s intrigued. 

“You know, keep this up and I might actually let you perform with us at some point,” she says after everyone has left. She picks up her bag and slings it over her shoulder, giving the ghost a pointed look. 

“You can see me?” he exclaims and Carrie smirks. 

_ Never gets old. _

“Yes,” she says plainly. “And who are you?”

“Alex,” he responds, having the decency to look slightly sheepish. “How can you-”

“Carrie Wilson, LA’s resident ghost hunter.”

Alex’s eyes widen comically. “Shit.” 

“I’m just messing with you,” Carrie says joyfully, taking two steps towards him.

“Julie  _ did  _ say she was evil,” Alex mutters softly, more to himself than to her.

Carrie narrows her eyes. “I’m not a ghost hunter, you idiot. I help people like you - well, the ones that deserve my help at least - to cross over to the otherside.”

“The otherside? So it’s real then? Heaven and Hell and all that.” 

“How should I know? I’m not the dead one,” Carrie replies, deadpan.

“Touche.” Alex sits down, legs crossed, on the rehearsal stage and pats the space next to him, motioning for Carrie to come over. She obliges, only because she’s impressed he learnt the choreography. 

(And not because she’s curious about what the deal is with this ghost band. That would just be absurd.) 

“How’d you guys die?” Carrie asks, ripping of the bandaid. “Assuming that you guys all died together. Usually that’s the go, anyway.”

“You’ve seen this before?” 

Carrie laughs. “Seen a band made out of dead people that everyone else, not just me, can see? Can’t say that I have.” 

“You are very sarcastic for someone so short,” Alex muses. 

“I’m not  _ short _ . And anyway, you didn’t answer my question.”

“Hot dogs.”

“Do I look like I have any hot dogs on me? God, you are  _ so  _ weird.” 

Alex smiles. “No, that’s how we died. We ate street dogs.”

“Well shit.” Carrie grins. “That’s a new one. Last month I met a girl who died from electrocuting herself in the bathtub and I thought  _ that  _ was bad but this, this is on a whole new level of stupid!”

“So you meet ghosts a lot?” Alex asks.

Carrie tilts her head, considering. “Yeah, I guess. It started when I was about twelve? At first I was only helping say, two or three ghosts a year. Must have gotten promoted or something, because by the time I was fifteen I was bumping into lost souls left right and centre.” 

“I’ve only met one other ghost,” Alex says softly. “He always knows how to find me, but I wouldn’t know where to start. Can you help me?”

“I’m not a ghost GPS,” Carrie snaps. 

(Even though technically, she kind of is.)

“His name is Willie,” Alex continues, looking up at her with hopeful eyes. “I just - just want to be able to talk to him.” 

“Long hair, skateboards everywhere, says the word ‘chill’ in every two sentences?”

Alex’s face brightens. “Yeah, you know him?”

“Surprisingly yeah, I do.” She pulls off a small, silver charm from her bracelet and places it between them. “This will lead you in his direction, as long as you have positive intentions. Be careful though, he might move quickly.” Alex goes to say something but Carrie holds up a finger and places it in front of his mouth, not close enough to go through him but enough to silence him. “Don’t ask me how it works, I have no idea. Got it from a gimmicky magic shop downtown, thought it was a load of crap but somehow it works.” 

“You know, Julie was wrong about you,” Alex says. “You’re actually pretty cool. Wicked costumes, too, by the way.” 

Warmth spreads through Carrie, and she smiles. “We’re back here in two days. You’re welcome to join if you want.”

“Sweet!”

* * *

Once upon a time, there were two little girls. One smiled bright like the sun and sung like an angel, ringlets bouncing as she spun in a circle. The other had hair the colour of silk and could charm her way into anything her heart desired, the apple of her parent’s eyes. 

The girls played together, sang together, laughed together. They built sandcastles and baked cookies, created fantasy worlds of princesses and dragons and dreamed of their futures: of times when they would be grown up, would have careers and money and boys that adored them. 

Each step they had to take, the girls took it together, hand in hand.

Until the day it all came crashing down. 

On the eve of her eleventh birthday, the blonde’s mother left without warning. All that was left of her existence was a small pink music box with a tiny plastic figure that spun when opened. 

The little girl was left in the sole custody of her father, who cared more about his career than he did about his daughter. Warm, reassuring hugs and encouraging words turned into lonely nights spent with a sitter and microwave dinners.

In the months that followed the girl began to feel envious towards her friend. Time that was once spent playing around with various instruments and enjoying each other's company turned into time spent in stony silences and malicious words. 

Jealousy overtook the little girl: she could no longer spend time with her friend and her loving and  _ whole  _ family without thinking of what she lost.

So, instead of dealing with the pain, the little girl did something very, very bad.

Something that could never be forgiven. 

* * *

“Carrie?” Alex asks in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” She replies incredulously. “What are you doing in  _ my  _ house?”

“Hold up,” says the guy to Alex’s left. He’s wearing a leather jacket and a plain white t-shirt, and Carrie resists the urge to roll her eyes and how  _ basic  _ it is. “You can see us?”

Carrie ushers the three ghosts into the kitchen and lowers her voice. “Alex didn’t tell you?”

Leather jacket guy and his friend both glare at Alex. “No, no he didn’t.”

_ Typical. _

“I’m Carrie, I see ghosts and help them move on, blah blah blah. Watch Pushing Daisies for more info, it’s  _ basically _ the same thing.”

The guy wearing a tank top stares at her blankly. “Whatchu just say?”

“You heard me,” Carries says, slightly exasperated. Nick is sitting  _ on her couch _ , wondering why she’s off talking to herself. Carrie really doesn’t have the energy for this today. “Names, please, now, and what exactly are you doing in my house?”

“I’m Luke,” tank top guy says, “and this is Reggie.”

“We’re here to haunt your father,” Alex supplies and Carrie glares. It says something about her life that she’s more upset about having ghosts that she doesn’t know in her house than she is about said ghosts ‘haunting’ her father.

“I help you and  _ this  _ is how you repay me?”

Alex throws his hands up in the air. “We didn’t know Bobby was  _ your _ dad!” 

Carrie mulls over the situation and comes to a horrifying conclusion. “Does Julie know you’re here?” 

“There’s uh,” Reggie begins, “a slight chance she might know where we are.”

“And an even  _ bigger  _ chance that she will be coming to stop us at any given moment,” Luke adds, causing Carrie to sigh again.

“Nick’s waiting for me,” she says, grabbing a soda from the fridge. “Don’t break anything.”

* * *

Weirdly enough, they become something akin to friends after that incident. Carrie doesn’t know if it’s the fact that letting the trio poke fun at their former bandmate is considered to be ‘cool’ in the eyes of three rebellious teenage boys from the nineties, or if they’re just lonely and need something to do when Julie is busy. 

Either way, Carrie finds that she doesn’t  _ really _ mind.

* * *

Julie finds out, and she takes it exactly the way that Carrie expects her too.

Not well.

(She gets over it quickly enough, however, when she figures out that this means Carrie can help teach Alex about camp, a subject she knows next to nothing about.

It’s so endearing that Carrie almost forgets to form a comeback.

Almost.)

* * *

They’re sitting on the beach, the five of them, watching the sun go down. 

Luke and Reggie are tangled up together on Carrie’s far left, and she pretends that she doesn’t see the way that Julie’s ankles are resting in the space where Luke’s thighs should be. Carrie sits next to Julie with her legs stretched out towards the waves, digging her fingers in the sand and making a fist. Alex is on her right, jabbering about some ideas he has for the next  _ Dirty Candy  _ performance that Carrie is only half listening to. 

She’s not a part of them - their band or their family - and she knows it.

But Carrie knows that maybe, just maybe, she’s working her way up to it. Finally,  _ finally  _ working at something that matters, something other than her career. Something that makes her feel worthy and loved, something that isn’t the validation of her father.

For the first time in a long, long time, Carrie feels like she is  _ exactly  _ where she’s meant to be.   
  


**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on [tumblr](https://eyescllsed.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/paceywiitter)
> 
> hope you are all staying safe xx


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